Konductra (gamezone)

- gamezone -

For the past several months O~3 Entertainment has been hyping a new puzzler called Konductra. Its multi-colored blocks and full-screen playing field give way to thoughts of Lumines – a thought that would not do justice to what would become the DS's most creative and most challenging puzzler since Meteos.

Konductra is a game without falling blocks. It is without block shifters (like you see in Tetris Attack). Blocks do not come in through one side of the screen – they are placed within a 7x11 playing field. You can lay the blocks wherever you want. They come in pairs, often in two colors. Most of the gameplay occurs on the bottom screen, but you can look up to see the next two block sets.

Blocks are placed by touching the screen. Touch it and the first block in the set will appear. Drag the stylus across any side of the block and the second one will appear. You can lift up to place the blocks, or scroll back over them to prevent unwanted placement.

Place a block and it will stay in the game until it has been eliminated. "Ah, I get it. Three in a row and ..." No, you don't get it yet, and you probably won't until you sit down and listen to the in-game tutorial. It clearly explains that that the black and gray panels that surround the playing field are used to make blocks disappear.

The assumption that blocks of the same color are needed to succeed is correct. But that's just part of the puzzle. As few as two blocks of the same color may be eliminated, but only if they are both touching panels of the same color. For example, two green blocks located in one of the screen's corners may be wiped out. (Any color applies, I'm just using green as an example.) But two green blocks not in a corner, or not touching a panel at all, cannot be eliminated until they are connected with other green blocks that are touching two panels of the same color.

In most puzzlers, when the right conditions are met, the blocks disappear. In Konductra, you have to make them disappear, and that's where the panels come into play. Panels alternate between black and gray colors. You can start to eliminate a group of blocks by touching a panel and dragging the stylus across the adjoining blocks. Continuity is your friend, and your worst nightmare. If you start on a gray panel, you must end on a gray panel. Same goes for black. The color of the first block that you touch – green, red, orange, blue, or yellow – is the color that you must stick with until the appropriate panel is reached.

That's why two green blocks across the bottom cannot be eliminated. You can't start on a gray panel and end on black. Two different panels of the same color must be involved in the completion of every move. It'd be nice if you could start on one panel, hit all the green blocks, then backtrack to the same panel and finish the move. But that would've ruined the purpose of the panel system, which was to make the game unique and difficult.

(G represents the green blocks, P represents the panels):

G G G G

P P P P

Since panels alternate, let's assume the first and third are gray, and the second and fourth are black. Do you see why it wouldn't be possible to complete a move if there were only two green blocks attached?

However, even though you can't start and end on two different colored panels, it is possible to eliminate all four of these blocks. Let's start on gray and drag the stylus up and all the way to the right, through each of the four green blocks. Next, without lifting the stylus, drag back one block and move down to the third panel – the other gray panel. As you'll see, backtracking in this case is acceptable. You're still following the rules, but have a little more flexibility.

To go one step further and eliminate more than one type of block at the same time, you'll either need to travel through the panels and come out on other sides (the black-on-black/gray-on-gray rule still applies), or use a white multi-color block to link two colors together.

G G M R R

P P P P P

M = Multi-color

R = Red

Just as you would if the five blocks were the same color, drag the stylus through a panel, through the two green blocks, over the multi-color block, and through both red blocks. Now drag the stylus over the appropriate panel and all five of these blocks will be eliminated.

Konductra's confusing and hard-to-master gameplay will boggle most minds and turn off casual players who wanted another Tetris. However, if hardcore games like Lumines and Meteos can succeed, I imagine that I'm not the only one in search of an ultra challenging puzzler. Konductra is a bit much, and is not the kind of game I'll play as often as Tetris DS or Pokemon Trozei. But I still recommend it, at least on a trial basis. You've got to know just how brilliant and frustrating this game can be – and that is something you will not know until you play it.

Review Scoring Details for Konductra

Gameplay: 7.5
There are only two different play styles: Score and Task, and both require you to play with perfection. Score is just what it sounds like – an endless mode where you play until you lose. The high score doesn’t mean much, but it’s still satisfying to beat a friend’s point total. Task gives you a crazy pattern (shown on the top screen) that must be mimicked and eliminated. Both are fun but very difficult.

Graphics: 4.0
Multi-colored blocks on a dark playing field. Not too exciting, but in the game’s defense, it is a puzzler. The last things I need are polygons and flashy skins distracting me from the objective.

Sound: 6.0
File this one under TRSL – Typically Repetitive Sound Library.

Difficulty: Hard
Not quite Meteos hard, Konductra is a ruthless game with little room for mistakes. Most puzzlers give you a breather every now and then, but in Konductra, you must think ahead with every move.

Concept: 8.8
There’s nothing Tetris about this game. Konductra’s unique system of laying and eliminating blocks (with the black and gray side panels) is ingenious, and relentless in its challenge.

Multiplayer: 6.9
Like Meteos, Konductra is a great game that suffers from its extreme challenge. Both online and offline multiplayer options are supported.

Overall: 7.5
Konductra is a great and highly creative puzzler that might be too much for most gamers to handle. It’s not just about lining up blocks, or frantically piecing blocks together, hoping you’ll make them disappear. (Such a cheap tactic won’t work in this game.) Konductra is much deeper than that. You’ve got to plan out every move, and delve into any psychic abilities you possess to plan out the moves after that. I like this game – a lot of you will. But I liked Meteos, and it has sat and collected dust for 18 months. Easy games suck, but being the complete opposite doesn’t guarantee high replay value. In fact, it just might lead to the opposite.